Rev elations

'Lazarus, Come Out!' John Chapter 11 Pod cast/Lazarus-is-called-back-to-life The story of Lazarus if a very helpful one for our current predicament. Like Lazarus we are physically restricted and bound; we are prevented from going out, seeing people, going to work, going about our normal business. We are told that Lazarus has been dead for 4 days. We will be restricted for much longer and we will be challenged not to give ourselves over to a spiritual or emotional death. It is important that we hold on to the bigger picture - whilst Lazarus was bound his family (Mary and Martha) were in relationship with Jesus. In the midst of their grief they dared to trust that Jesus would help them. Sometimes, indeed, most of the time, events don't occur when we want them to. Jesus seems to deliberately stay away from Bethany in order that God might be glorified. We are also playing a waiting game, we are waiting for the sign that it is safe to resume our normal lives. We are ...

Lent Study Group One of my top 10 books of the last 10 years has to be: 'A Book of Silence' by Sara Maitland. I first heard Sara talk at Greenbelt many years ago and I was fascinated then by who she was - an eccentric woman, speaking with intensity and insight, offering an alternative and captivating viewpoint on the human experience. In this book she explores silence in all sorts of ways: by living on her own; by visiting the desert; through analysing the desert traditions within early Christianity; and through attending to what happens to the body and the mind in and through extended silence and isolation. Her book begins: I am sitting on the front doorstep of my little house with a cup of coffee, looking down the valley at my extraordinary view of nothing. It is wonderful. Virginia Woolf famously taught us that every woman writer needs a room of her own. She didn't know the half of it, in my opinion. I need a moor of my own. Or, as an exasperated but obvious...

Reflective material for personal use ‘After immense activity one passes into a phase where passivity is the only way. I pray that you may be finding this passivity as the way in which the soul serves God, not by doing this or that but by passively receiving the great stream of His love and compassion.’                             Michael Ramsey Butcher and Sheep Rumi Do not despair when the beloved sends you away. Today’s rejection may turn tomorrow to an invitation. If the door shuts, do not go away. Be patient, even if every possibility seems closed. The friend has secret ways known to no one else. Is it not the case that when a butcher kills a sheep, he does not leave the carcass? Rather, he bends down and works more closely. The sheep’s life becomes the butcher’s life. The meaning with this is: There is a great g...

Christians are formed in spiritual practices that are designed to help us grow in love and holiness. During Lent we enter into the desert or wilderness, metaphorically speaking, to learn more about God's love. Christians have sought solitude and time alone with God since the earliest times of the Christian faith. We should not be unduly worried therefore about the prospect of needing to spend time alone. Christians who have fasted, prayed and practiced contemplation annually for the 40 days of Lent, are well prepared for this time of testing. We can encourage others, who may be less prepared, by our prayers, by our example and our teaching. This may be an opportunity to proclaim the love of God to others and to share with them something of the wonders of the Christian spiritual tradition. Moreover, during Lent we are encouraged not only to pray and fast but to be deliberate about practicing 'acts of service and compassion'. This is also critical to how we should and must ...

Painting by Amber Merrick-Potter, owned by the Blog author I love words, I have always enjoyed reading and writing. Recently I’ve come across a group of words that are under threat: heron, magpie, otter, acorn, clover, ivy, sycamore, dandelion, buttercup, poppy, radish, willow, bramble, weasel, vicar, psalm, carol, bishop, chapel, pulpit, sin, pew and devil. Nature words and church words. Why are they under threat? In the latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary  these words have been taken out in favour of words such as: blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, export, chatroom, bullet point, cut and paste, allergic, celebrity, childhood, tolerant, vandalism and negotiate. The words we use echo our interests, our concerns, how we spend our time and what is important to us. In short, they show us who we are. We are living through a period of extraordinary technological revolution; the pace of change has been phenomenal. We have jumped head l...

The Book of Amos is only 9 chapters long, but its prophetic announcements are powerful and direct. When Amos was pronouncing his prophecies, the two kingdoms of Judah and Jerusalem were in peace, with little threat from external powers.  Amos however describes a society which has lost its moral compass, and has forgotten what it means to be righteous before God: they have not honoured the covenant relationship into which they entered with Yahweh; they have forgotten how Yahweh saved them from the Egyptians, and subsequently they have rejected his laws.  Amos declares that God’s judgment upon them will be swift and decisive; God will utterly destroy them.  Flight shall perish from the swift, And the strong will not retain their strength, Nor shall the mighty save their lives; Amos 2:13 In what ways does Amos declare that they have failed to follow God’s laws? Amos’ understanding of what it meant to be in covenant relationship ...

‘Let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works and glorify your God which is in heaven’. The relationship between the Law and Faith within Christianity is complicated; Protestant thinking with its emphasis on by faith alone has a particular tendency to make a narrow judgment which in summary, says: faith, good; law, bad. I’ll give you an example, a couple of weeks back I gave a presentation at a meeting about the environment and Eco-Church. Most people were enthusiastic and keen to respond in action. However, one person approached me and expressed doubt about it all - she said ‘we should be saving souls’ and that to her mind excluded thinking about Eco-Church. And here is an example of someone who has over-emphasised the Protestant teaching by faith alone and in so doing reduced and narrowed the Christian understanding of salvation.  Salvation isn’t just about my personal relationship with Jesus and therefore my salvation. Far from it. Jesu...